We are all “drittlander”

I saw the headline in Aftenposten, Norway’s main newspaper, that Trump referred to <<drittlander>> and there was a picture of his meeting with the Norwegian prime minister. The real words were translated into “shit countries,” although what was said was much more vulgar. Meanwhile, his short attention span and lack of any knowledge or historical context, accompanied by the constant undercurrent of racism, led him to demand in the immigration meeting with Congressional leaders that we take more immigrants from countries like Norway.

Guess what? All immigrants have a hard time, regardless of their skin color or country of origin. Our ancestors from Norway had it as hard as any other immigrants. They worked in low-wage occupations like farming and logging, struggled to assimilate, and even 2nd generation Norwegians lagged in income compared to the US population and other immigrants of the time. My dad remembers his grandparents speaking Norwegian to neighbors on the phone. “It takes generations, perhaps a long as a century, to catch up to the native population. …on the whole, the immigrants of today look to be on a path similar to that followed by Norwegians and others in their study.”

On the other hand, Norway today has become one of the most prosperous, and happiest, nations on earth because of their careful stewardship of resources and focus on income and gender equality. “Norwegians have it so well today that, … Norwegian-born people today are the third smallest group of resident immigrants in the U.S. in raw-number terms.”

Instead of asking for Norwegians to come to the US where they would face a broken political system and crumbling infrastructure, why not envision a US that carefully manages our resources and is dedicated to income and gender inequality, not in false word but in deed? And remember that Norway takes many refugees from countries that the US is trying to shun. Maybe that’s the Norway-inspired outburst that we need.

For the studies and statistics, because we live in a real world of real facts and history: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2018/01/12/trump-wants-more-immigrants-from-norway-theres-a-reason-they-arent-coming/?utm_term=.63b4e2cea987

 

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About Christy Anderson Brekken

In no particular order... Instructor and Researcher, Department of Applied Economics, Oregon State University. Educational background: University of MN Law School, 2005. MS in Ag and Resource Economics, Oregon State University, 2011. Teaches: Agricultural Law, Environmental Law. Mother: brilliant 9 year old boy; brilliant 6 year old girl with benign myoclonic epilepsy on a modified ketogenic diet therapy. Married to: Ted Brekken, OSU Department of Electrical Engineering. Ride: Xtra-cycle Edgerunner with kid seat; 400-pound cargo capacity. Grew up: Devils Lake, ND. Lived in: Minneapolis/St. Paul, MN, Pohang, South Korea, Trondheim, Norway, Corvallis, OR. Interests: Cooking, knitting, eating, yoga, laughing, hiking, traveling, staying sane.
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